Blog: A ladybug bloom

“Ladybird, ladybird, fly away home” (children’s nursery rhyme). A amazing phenomenon was seen in San Diego last week, a giant rain cloud that turned out to be a swarm of lady beetles that measured 135 km by 135 km. Such a cloud of lady bugs is called a ‘bloom’ but is normally not this large. It is thought that the swarm may have gotten swept up with the wind as this massive bloom is highly unusual. The bright red insects are known to hibernate in clusters along California’s foothills and migrate west in the springtime. This mass insect migration which contains trillions and trillions of lady beetles (ladybirds or ladybugs) were flying south over the desert in a large swarm. This huge migration normally happens in late spring due to increasing day length and warming temperatures that surpass 18 degrees C, which trigger these insects to awaken from diapause (insect hibernation).

Go Green Pest Control owner Randy Bilesky is a long-time South Delta resident. Trained and certified, Bilesky has first-hand knowledge of the pest problems that local homeowners and business owners encounter.

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